Abstract

In the turkey production industry (IND, it is standard practice to feed higher levels of Ca and non-phytate Phosphorus (npP) than the National Research Council (NRC) recommendations, in order to promote the growth of a stronger skeleton. Elevated dietary npP leads to an increase in P content in the manure, which is undesirable due to resulting environmental contamination, particularly eutrification of the water. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of varying concentrations of dietary Ca and npP on bone size, density and breaking strength in turkeys.